Mud Puddles
by Bomani Akila Neteru
Summary: Annabelle just wanted to splash through the puddles with Ironhide; it was too bad for him that he couldn't resist her big blue eyes.


Pitter patter, pitter patter.

The sound was comforting, relaxing to most, but to little kids around the world, so depressing. Annabelle was no different, and she sunk down in her seat with a little huff- the third one in the last ten minutes alone- and continued to stare out the window. With her arms crossed under her chin, and her legs folded underneath her little bottom, she easily glared out the rather tall window just above the couch in the living room.

The rain neither heeded nor seemed to care about her angry expression. Then again, not many people seemed to either, now that the little girl thought about it. Maybe because she was still small, she figured. Mommy's angry look scared everyone, and they often said she looked a lot like her; so maybe she just hadn't grown into her 'angry, scary' look yet. Like she hadn't grown into that really pretty dress that grandma wanted to give her when she got older.

The thought was comforting. When she got bigger, she would be able to stop the mean rain with just a look! For now, however, all she could do was sulk.

Grumbling at the unfairness of it all, (it had been raining for a week straight for crying out loud!) she turned her head so that her cheek was resting against her crossed arms and let her eyes trail over the desolateness that was the outdoors. Mud, water, mud puddles, more water, rain, more mud, more puddles, Ironhide, more rain- Annabelle stopped abruptly. Ironhide. A grin pulled wide at her face. _Ironhide_ would know what to do!

Of course, mommy and daddy had told Annabelle not to go outside. But the six year old reasoned that if she were going out to check on Ironhide, who was all alone in the rain, they would understand. They wouldn't want him getting rusty, or to feel lonely!

Annabelle stubbornly ignored the fact that Ironhide had already assured her that he couldn't rust so easily, and didn't feel lonely in the slightest.

Running over to the closet excitedly, the little girl yanked on her bright yellow rain boots over the ends of her pajama pants, pulled on her long brown raincoat, and plopped her equally radiant yellow rain hat on her head. Nodding at her handiwork, Annabelle then began turning to the door, when mommy's pretty dark blue umbrella caught her eye. Mommy hardly ever used it, and Annabelle had never got to use an umbrella before, so it didn't take much to convince herself to take that too.

She didn't open it in the house, of course. Daddy had told her that was bad luck. _And_ bad manners.

Now prepared to face the evil that was known only as rain, Annabelle raced out of the house, making sure to close the door behind her, and flicking the umbrella open as she went. Surprisingly, it was easy to operate; though it startled her when it exploded open. Annabelle then wasted no time in running over to her loving Guardian.

Ironhide _must_ have been sleeping. Or, well, recharge, as he called it. But Annabelle knew it was pretty much sleep. In any case, he must have been _recharging_ , because he _always_ knew when she was coming. But this time, he didn't. In fact, he jumped when she patted his roof excitedly in order to get his attention for about the fifth time. The first four, he was as still and quiet like any other vehicle. He didn't fool Annabelle though, not for a moment. _She_ knew exactly what he was. Giggling, she continued to pat him until he jumped abruptly against her hand, making a loud snorting noise.

"Ironhide! Ironhide!" The little girl tried to halfway climb up him, using the tire and her one hand; but failed. Instead, she slipped back down into the mud, her rain boots splashing it up and over with a loud splattering noise.

"Annabelle…?" The grumble was thick with sleep and confusion,

"Hiiiiide~!" The little girl cheered with a giggle, still attempting to climb onto his hood. The vehicle sunk low on itself, the tires letting out a little hiss as it did, but it made Annabelle's climbing attempts no easier.

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm booooored! Play with me, Hide, play with me!" Ecstatic for something to do, Ironhide's little charge was jumping up and down in a mud puddle right next to him, making quite the mess against his side and up her boots.

The large Autobot grumbled again, shifting on his tires as though he were shuffling.

"Your mother would deactivate me if she knew you were outside in this weather." Ironhide hedged,

"But I'm bored! There's nothing to do inside!" Annabelle sulked, holding the umbrella in her hands tightly,

"And you think I have something interesting for you to do?" The old warrior sighed, already knowing the answer. As he expected, the little girl stared at him with large eyes, seeming to plead with him without having to say a single word. Groaning under his breath, Ironhide threw open his front passenger door. Beaming, Annabelle quickly took up the silent offer and climbed in. Unfortunately, the umbrella couldn't fit, and the little girl was uncertain as to how it was supposed to be closed.

After about a moment of fighting with it, Ironhide's holoform materialized a short distance away, stepped up, and took it from her.

"Thanks Hide!" Annabelle grinned. The Autobot offered a rough half smile before shutting the door, closing the umbrella, and making his way around his true form. He climbed into his driver's door, and set the umbrella down by Annabelle's leg. Water dribbled down from just about everything on both of them, including the umbrella, but thanks to Sarah's consideration, it just plopped against plastic coverings.

Ironhide had never been more grateful for the woman's worry wart like tendencies.

Now, he wondered, how to entertain his young charge.

Ironhide thought it over, even as he turned his heater on full blast in the hopes of drying the somewhat waterlogged little girl in his passenger seat. Annabelle giggled at the feeling of hot air blasting her blonde hair strands out of her face, making them tickle the skin they passed over. Leaning back with a half grin, Ironhide tried to just relax and take a moment to enjoy the sound of the rain. Not that he much enjoyed it thundering against him, mind you. He could _feel_ it sliding in between all of his joints and crevices.

Ironhide couldn't wait until Lennox finished building that garage for him. Weather on Earth _sucked_. It hadn't exactly rained like this on Cybertron.

The thought of his old home sent a powerful ache through him.

For a long moment, they sat, side by side, in silence; and simply watched the rain fall.

Ironhide was not bothered by the quiet in the least, he was used to sitting in the quiet, and Annabelle's silence far from concerned him. There were times when she would simply go silent, staring into nothingness, musing over something far from the realm of reality. This was one such time. Annabelle seemed to mull some form of thought over, her eyes unfocused on the world outside, her little brow furrowed a bit in concentration.

And when Ironhide drifted off into his own thoughts, she finally spoke.

The warrior had the bejeezus scared- no, _startled_ \- out of him. He didn't _get_ scared.

"Do you think I can play in the mud puddles? Like those kids on TV?" Annabelle questioned out of the blue in wonderment,

"From what I understand, that could make you sick." Taking a huffing breath to calm his panicking spark- the only sign of his being _startled_ \- and cracked his holoform's neck, tilting it left, and then right. Annabelle pouted at this, and seemed to think it over further. After several moments of careful consideration; she came to a conclusion. Mud puddles were in her future. She simply had to try it- to see if it was as fun as it looked on TV.

Slyly glancing at Ironhide, she began to set her plan in motion.

For you see, big bad Ironhide had only one weakness, and one weakness alone. A weakness Annabelle had taken advantage of on more than one occasion; much to the Autobot's chagrin. It made her gleeful that only _she_ was capable of extorting it.

Ironhide's one and only weakness?

Annabelle's big, blue, puppy dog eyes.

Throwing her plan into motion, she silently turned towards her guardian's holoform, and stared, making certain to widen her eyes and furrow her brow upwards. Ironhide continued to look ahead, out the front windshield, but Annabelle knew he could see her. He had eyes everywhere; nothing escaped _her_ guardian's notice.

Determined now, Annabelle added a little wobble to her bottom lip, and let her eyes tear up just a smidge, sniffling a bit.

Then she simply waited. A minute passed. Then two. Sweat began to bead along Ironhide's forehead before trickling down the side of his face and neck. Or at the very least, the illusion of sweat.

Yes! Just a little more and-

"Alright, alright!" Ironhide seemed to slump against his true form's seat, scowling a little- though Annabelle knew it wasn't directed at her. She squealed her victory, giggling and throwing her hands up.

"Not a word to your mother though." The warrior grumbled, but was ignored as the little girl was still celebrating her 'victory'.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Excited, Annabelle abandoned the umbrella in favor of leaping out of Ironhide's passenger seat and outside, back into the rain. With a heavy sigh, the large warrior followed after her. He dismissed his holoform and without a moment of pause, transformed to his full height. His true form easily towered over the tiny girl, but Annabelle was far from afraid.

She was used to Ironhide; and he to her.

Crouching and extending a hand to Annabelle, he had her take hold of his pointer finger, and without further adieu; Annabelle jumped into her first mud puddle. The contaminated water splashed up her boots, and nearly to her pajama pants. Immediately, she began snorting and laughing, wiggling her feet in the gushy mud; making herself sink about half an inch down into the earth. Grinning widely now, she continued to hold onto Ironhide's pointer finger- and jumped again.

And again, and again, and yet again.

The puddles went everywhere, splashing and making strange noises that had Annabelle shaking with the force of her laughter. To her, it sounded like the puddles were farting when the mud tried to hold onto her foot and she forcefully yanked it free.

Ironhide quickly became caught up in his charge's simple joy, and before long, was chuckling and slapping his free hand down in the mud puddles as well; pulling out squeals of laughter from Annabelle.

Together, they stomped in the rain, adding in their own thunder.

XxX

She stood in front of them, tapping her foot with no small amount of disappointment and held in frustration. They stood before her like two small children that had been caught stealing cookies. Soaked from head to toe in rainwater and mud, holoform and young child stood side by side, looking down at their feet in shame.

"Annabelle I can understand; but I expected more from you, Ironhide! You're both grounded!" Sarah sighed, closing her eyes.

The look of horror on Ironhide's face was enough to send Lennox into fits of laughter.


End file.
